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Measurements of nitrogen productivity in the equatorial PacificDuring the R/V Wecoma WEC88 cruise that sampled a meridional transect along 150 deg W from 15 deg N to 15 deg S, uptake of nitrate and ammonium by phytoplankton was measured using the stable isotope N-15 with simulated in-situ bottle incubations and shipboard mass spectrometry. A set of 25 daily productivity stations showed the influence of equatorial upwelling on nitrate distribution and N-15 uptake in a band from 6 deg N to 7.5 deg S compared with the oligotrophic waters to the north and south, with the highest values of nitrate uptake occurring at the equator. During a 5-day time series at the equator, there was an increase in nitrate accompanied by increased nitrate uptake. Interestingly, nitrate uptake rates (equivalent to new production rates) at the equator were lower than those predicted by previous investigators. Holdover experiments and uptake versus irradiance curves showed that the phytoplankton was in an early stage of metabolic adaptation and that can be a contributing factor.
Document ID
19920038623
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wilkerson, Frances P.
(University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Dugdale, Richard C.
(Southern California, University Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
January 15, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 97
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Oceanography
Accession Number
92A21247
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF OCE-87-10774
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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